PRO BASKETBALL

PRO BASKETBALL; Cavs' Miller Is a Tough Deal for the Knicks

By CHRIS BROUSSARD

Published: July 20, 2002

Several officials in the National Basketball Association were surprised by Scott Layden's ability to bring Antonio McDyess to the Knicks on draft night. If Layden, the Knicks' president and general manager, is able to add to that success this summer by trading for the Cleveland Cavaliers' Andre Miller, his N.B.A. counterparts would be no less shocked.

Obtaining Miller will be difficult for the Knicks because Cleveland has no interest in their expensive veterans, notably Latrell Sprewell, who is being offered. The Cavaliers are seeking at least two good young players with several years remaining on their contracts.

To entice the Cavs, the Knicks must find a third or a fourth team to include in the deal. Several teams want Miller for themselves, however. There has been speculation that the Knicks have tried to include Indiana and Atlanta in a deal, but two Eastern Conference officials said that was inaccurate.

''People have said the Knicks are going to go with Indiana or Atlanta, but both of those teams need point guards, so why would they do that?'' said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''Indiana wants Miller, and if Atlanta could pull off a trade for Andre Miller, they'd get him for themselves.''

The Cavaliers do not want any of Atlanta's players either, not even Shareef Abdur-Rahim, if it means parting with Miller, a league executive said.

Cleveland is not shopping Miller. It is listening to offers, but will have no problem with having him on the roster in the coming season. He is under contract for another year and will be a restricted free agent next summer.

''The only potential trade I know of and have heard of that makes sense for Miller is the one that almost happened on draft night,'' one of the Eastern Conference officials said.

That was the near trade with the Los Angeles Clippers that would have sent Lamar Odom and the Clippers' two first-round draft picks to Cleveland. It could be resurrected in some form in the coming weeks.

Miller's relatively small $2.5 million salary for next season also complicates matters. If the Knicks traded Sprewell for Miller, they would have to take back about $10 million in salary of other players because of Sprewell's $12.375 million salary.

The Knicks are also not against bringing Sprewell back next season. He is being shopped because the Knicks know Allan Houston is unlikely to be traded because of his $100 million contract.

As good as he is, Sprewell will not be easy to move. Rebuilding teams do not want him because he will be 32 in September, he has three years and $40 million remaining on his contract, and he has a reputation for developing a bad attitude when his team struggles.

Only a top-notch veteran team that needs an athletic shooting guard to challenge the Los Angeles Lakers will want Sprewell. But such a team is unlikely to trade any of its top players. And in the context of a three-team deal with Cleveland, such a club would probably not have the promising youngsters the Cavaliers are looking for.

REBOUNDS

JEROME JAMES, one of the free-agent centers the Knicks were interested in, re-signed with Seattle on Thursday. . . . Along with other teams, the Knicks are pursuing CEZARY TRYBANSKI, 22, a 7-foot-3, 255-pound center from Poland. The Knicks worked out Trybanski on Tuesday in Boston. He is skilled and likes to play outside, as do most European centers. He averaged about 6 points and 3 rebounds in the Polish league last season and is a project who would probably make only minor contributions next season.